Health ministry announces ‘Better For You’ programme
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of Health and Wellness yesterday announced the launch of the ‘Better For You’ programme, which will be available at select restaurants island-wide and will address the growing incidences of lifestyle diseases in Jamaica.
According to the ministry, ‘Better For You’ was born out of focus groups for the national change agenda on lifestyle or non-communicable diseases (NCDs) programme ‘Jamaica Moves’, where participants indicated that due to their hectic schedules they were unable to properly prepare meals at home, thus turning to restaurants to provide their daily meals.
Using this information, paired with consultations with leading selected restaurant chains over the past two years, the ministry said a designation of selected menu options labelled as “better for you” was formulated for participating restaurants.
“In public health, we must accept the cultural shifts in our society away from home cooked meals to restaurant meals and respond by encouraging consumer choice towards healthier options. This is only possible by providing information and encouraging better healthier choices. This is what the ‘Better for You’ menu designation is intended to do,” said Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Chris Tufton. “Over time we will promote this designation in all types of food establishments. In the meantime we are happy for the collaboration with these initial restaurant chains.”
“At Wendy’s, we believe in fresh food and in giving people choices to live a balanced lifestyle. We are excited to partner with the Ministry on this initiative towards making Jamaica an overall healthier society” shared Maurice Sloley, operations manager of Wendy’s.
For his part, Andrei Roper, brand manager for KFC, noted “KFC is fully aligned and fully supportive of the Ministry’s Better For you programme. We understand that people lead busy lives and that they are always on the go and need a quick solution. Better For You helps KFC to highlight that we have choices to fit every lifestyle.”
The ministry said the programme will be represented by a special icon affixed to the menu offering and available at participating locations of KFC, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Popeyes, Little Caesars, Island Grill and Juici.
